How disconcerting it must be to worship a God who is so small that he sanctions the murder of children if a manger scene is removed from public property.

Thankfully, that’s not the God whom was worshipped Sunday night in Newtown.

And that’s not the God who many of us will worship this Monday night, a God who saw a world of evil and neglect – a world turning away from him – and instead of sending an armed gunman, sent a mother riding on a donkey who delivered his only Son.

Is this God, the God of Christmas and Easter, consistent with Huckabee’s God who whistles and looks the other way during a mass shooting because he didn’t get invited to a party on the court square? Does God live in such a “cause-and-effect” world that he pulls levers to punish innocent people because of policy decisions handed down from generation to generation.

Of course not.

The truth is neither we nor anybody else knows the role God does or doesn’t play in these types of tragedies. But we certainly know enough to be confident that God didn’t sanction these killings because of the separation of church and state.

We are confused by this idea that the practice of faith has so saturated private lives that it must seep over into the public realm. Have Huckabee – and all of us for that matter – so filled up our “non-public” lives with prayer, charity and caring for the least of these that we need to also have our government sanction those actions?

But it’s not just the hypocrisy, it’s the danger of this theological view that concerns us – as we have said many times, our argument for separation of church and state is not about protecting the government from religion, it’s protecting religion from the government.

Our favorite quote in this regard comes from James Madison, who said: “An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against … Every new and successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance … religion and government will exist in greater purity without rather than with the aid of government.”

Think about Sunday’s service in Newtown. What if the town’s council had consisted of a majority bloc of non-Christian members and they had voted to only allow non-Christians to participate? The outrage would have been immeasurable. Can you imagine the religious division that would have ensued? Do we really want the government promoting and sanctioning religion in communities where our religion might not be in the majority?

Thankfully, the town opened up Sunday’s service to any and all faith traditions. Then, as life moves on, everyone is free to worship where and when they please – including in schools and public places where there is no prohibition against individuals saying their own prayers whenever they want.

Now, it is only natural to ask questions about our faith during these types of tragedies. Just like it’s only natural to want to “do something” about gun control. Or mental health services. Or violent video games.

But, to truly honor the memory of these slain children and adults, we must demand more of our discourse.

Blaming this tragedy on prayers before football games and nativity scenes does not clear the bar.

Sunday night’s service did – and we thank God and the town leaders who organized the event for that moment of grace.